Election Day is less than a week away! Find out where Dallas’ candidates stand on pet issues.

Election Day is less than a week away! Thirty-eight candidates will be vying for open seats on the Dallas City Council, so the Dallas Companion Animal Project sent questionnaires to all of them to find out where they stood on issues of concern to pet owners.

While national statewide elections get much more media coverage than local elections, it’s what happens every day here, in Dallas, that most effects you and your pets, and why the upcoming city council elections are so important. The roads you travel every day, the arts, the parks, and the entertainment, as well as the weeds, the trash, and the zoning – all the every day things that make up your life, and that includes pets, are greatly influenced by your local elected officials. And YOU have the power to decide who represents you on the Dallas City Council.

Do you want a bigger budget for animal services? More animal control officers? Programs to reduce the overwhelming number of lost and stray animals on our streets? Stronger pet protection ordinances? More progressive animal sheltering programs? All that and much more is influenced by the people you elect to represent you on a local level. It’s up to each and every one of us to vote, and to be certain the representatives we elect understand that pets are part of the family; that animal issues are paramount to quality of life; and that issues that affect animals affect people, too. So we’ve prepared a handy guide where you can read – in the candidates own words – their responses to the following questions:

Question #1. Do you own pets? If so, what kind, how many and where did you get them?

Question #2. What are your views on spay/neuter programs?

Question #3. Do you feel that feral/community cats are a necessary focus for animal welfare in the city of Dallas?

Question #4. The City of Dallas has committed to the city shelter reaching live release rates of 90% of healthy, adoptable treatable animals through the Dallas Companion Animal Project. Do you support this program?

Question #5. What issues pertaining to animals in Dallas are important to you?

Question #6. How do you feel about breed specific laws/ordinances?

Question #7. What are some of the ways you could see leveraging community partnerships with animal welfare resources to improve the conditions for citizens and animals in Dallas?

Question #8. Animal related calls, primarily via 311, rank #3 in the top 10 service requests citywide. DAS is staffed at only 1 Animal Services Officer per 78,125 residents but is compared to DPD and other first responding agencies. What are your thoughts on how service delivery could be improved?

Question #9. What sort of new or existing technology or resources do you see being utilized in enhancing service delivery and information on city services?

Question #10. Currently, Dallas Animal Services is getting ready to launch some offsite placement partnerships, while DAS has recently brought additional private funding to the city – base funding for these projects are essential – would you vote to support this funding?

Early voting is already underway, with Election Day set for Saturday, May 11th. For more information on the voting process, visit the Dallas County Elections Website. For information on early voting, polling locations, and where the candidates stand on other issues, visit the League of Women Voters of Dallas Website. Don’t know what City Council District you live in or who represents you? Find out HERE.

Please note: The Dallas Companion Animal Project is not endorsing any one political candidate over another. We are relaying the information provided by the candidates themselves. The exact survey was sent to each candidate at the same time with the same deadlines. The responses shown were transcribed directly from those responses.